Australia Prepares Swine Flu Shots from Stockpile
Date: Mar 21st, 2010 8:47:11 pm - Subscribe
Mood: overjoyed
March 22 (Bloomberg) -- Australian Health Minister Nicola Roxon said today that swine flu will match last year’s severity in Australia, when 191 deaths were associated with the pandemic influenza that killed almost 17,000 people worldwide.
“We have the vaccine that can be provided to every Australian over six months old,” Roxon told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. in a radio interview today, as the government rolls out free vaccinations. “We expect it to be of the same level of severity as last year.”
In 2009, there were 37,636 cases of swine flu in Australia. The median age of those who died was 53 years of age, compared with 83 years for seasonal influenza.
Swine flu is likely to be the dominant form of influenza this year in Australia, which has a population of 21 million. It could strike earlier than May, the start of the country’s flu season, prompting the government to urge Australians to get the free PanvaxH1N1 flu shot, produced by CSL Ltd.
“We purchased 21 million doses of the vaccine, so there are absolutely sufficient for the community,” Roxon said. “It has quite a long shelf life, it can be provided throughout this flu season.”
More than 213 countries and overseas territories or communities have reported laboratory-confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009, including at least 16,813 deaths, the World Health Organization said in the latest update issued on its Web site on March 19.
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China's worries good for the world
Date: Mar 20th, 2010 1:17:08 am - Subscribe
Mood: needy
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao answers questions during a press conference after the closing meeting of the Third Session of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 14, 2010. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)
BEIJING, March 15 -- The world is used to hearing about the West's concerns over China-related issues, so it may come as a surprise how frequently China's worries came up during Premier Wen Jiabao's press conference Sunday.
The term "worries" was used as many as 13 times during the concluding press conference of this year's NPC session, while it was used only about four times when Wen met the press upon the conclusion of the "two sessions" in 2009, and it was not used at all in Wen's 2007 and 2008 press conferences.
The signal conveyed here is strong and clear: China is deeply concerned with the mounting domestic and external pressures, both of which pose severe tests for its savvy and vision.
Justice is the top item in China's long list of worries. It outweighs other anxieties, as it spells out the root cause for many other thorny domestic problems, including corruption, income distribution, the hukou (residency permit) system, housing price bubbles and inflation.
As Wen stated, "Equity and justice are the basis of social stability, and they shine brighter than the sun." While this year's NPC session has been hailed for having passed an amendment to the electoral law, which grants equal representation to urban and rural citizens in the legislature, China has far to go toward both economic and political justice.
Even during the worst time of the global financial crisis, when China's economy suffered a huge blow in the aftermath of Lehman's collapse, it was still Western nations, not China, that expressed anxieties.
But now it is time for the world to keep an open ear to China's worries. Chinese' own sentiment toward their developing nation should have many complicated layers. Whether it be pride over China's rising clout or worries over its prickly problems, all these contribute to the depiction of a true China.
A nation with confidence is by no means one free of worries. Despite the tremendous progress it has made, China must remain clear-headed about the various tough challenges it faces in 2010, "the most complicated year."
Everyone is in the same boat, as the post-financial crisis world is intertwined more closely than ever before.
Listening to China's worries will help China mitigate those concerns, and will be good for the world at large.
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